Method of and means for operating valves



March l0, 1925. 1,529,005

. C. H. BECKWITH METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR OPERATING VALVES Fild-Sepi..v10. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l {gaas-J6 4 March 10. 1925. 1,529,005

c. H. BEcKwl'rH METHOD'OF AND MEANS FOR OPERATING VALVES Filed Sept. l0,1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 C ff if CLOSE x O x x x x o o UWT o x x x x O x xSTOFOXOOOOXX 5 CLOSE 6g 2 6g 5 671/56 LlMIT W' Zwan/2507*,"

- To aZZ whom it may concern: v

Patentes Mar. 10,111925.

MUNITED STATES PATENT oFF ICE.

CLINTON H. BEGKWITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 C RANE CO., OFCHICAGO,

' ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR OPERATING VALVES.`

Application med September Be it known that I, CLINTON H. BECK- wIT'H, aCitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Methods of and Means for Operating Valves, of which the following isa specilication.`

This invention pertains generally to valve operatingmechanis'ms,andwhile the principles of my invention may be utilized for variouspurposes,4` the invention is herein shown, merely for illustrativepurposes, asv

employed in connection with a motor operated gate valve.

' It has heretofore been the common practice. so far as I am aware, tooperate valves of this character by a motor, in the power circuit ofwhich was interposed a throwout switch vintended to be automaticallyopened so as to shutoff the power supply to the motor at the exactinstant that the valve reached its seat. These constructions, however,have not been satisfactory in practicaloperat-ion for the reason thatthe'valve does not close against its seat successively in the sameposition. The result has been, therefore, that if the switch was thrownout so that the closing movement, of the valveV stopped before thelvalve was fully seated,l leakage past the valve inevitably occurred,

particularly under high pressure duty. On the'othemhand, if, as theresult of a slight accumulation of sediment or other forelgn matter onthe valve or the seat, the valve should jam before it reached the limitof movement for which the switch was set, in

that event the motor would stall, the throwout switchwouldzfail tooperate at all, and unless thev difficulty were immediatelv discovered,the motor windings wou d be burnedout.

"zOne of the primary purposes of my present yinvention is to obvia-tethe difliculties :and uncertainties of operation, above mentioned, byprovidin a method and-,means for operating the .va ve, which will notonl insure that the valve is fully seated at eac closing operation, butwill also insure against injury to the motor windings, and to othermembers of the valve operating mechanism, which would result if thecurrent were left on the motor for any-con siderablelength of time afterthe same had 1o, i923. serial No. 661,747.

Another object of the invention is to overcome the danger of damagingthe valve seats, due to the inertia of the moving parts added to thetorque of the motor at the end of the travel.

With these ends in view, my invention is designed to utilize the fullspeed and torque of t e motor for moving the valve throughout the majorportion of its travel and up to a. predetermined point in the travel`slightly before the actual seating occurs.v AtA this point the torqueand speedof the motor are automatically reduced 'so that the valve willbe positively forced against its seat, but under reduced power, vwhichis not great enough to cause injur'y to-th'e valve, its seat, or theoperatin mechanism when movement of the valve 1s finally stopped, byintima-te and leak tight engagement between the valve and seat. Whenthis point is reached and further movement of the valve the current tothe motor was reduced, and is designed to automatically shut off thecurrentto the motor at the expiration of a predetermined period of timeafter the relay goes into operation.

In addition to this method of closing the valve, which insures apositive and leak tight closing at each actuation, and also precludesinjury both to the motor and the operating mechanisms, as well as to thevalve and'its seat, my invention contemplates an improved method andmeans'of positively breaking or jerking the valve away from its seat,for opening purposes, without imposing excessive strains either upon themotor or the other parts of the operating mechanism.

Another feature of my invention resides in the'adjustability of theoperating means, which enables thereduction' ot'` current to the motorto be effected at the'most desirable point in the travel of the valve soas to result in the most efficient and reliable operation ofthe'apparatus.

Other objects and advantages of my invention,l in addition to compactnssof assembly, economy in manufacture and installation, and reliability ofoperation, should be readily appreciated as the invention becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following description, when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings.'

Referring to the drawings: Fig. 1 is a lside elevation, partially invertical section, illustrating a means for carrying my improved methodinto eifect;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. l; A Figs 3-is asectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig..2;

circuit.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on theline 4-4 of Fig. 1; f

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic viewo'f the control circuit for closing thevalve;

Fig. 6 is a chart illustrating the position of the various switchesduring an operation cycle; and

` Fig. 7 illustrates diagrammatically the introduction of the resistancein the motor Referring to the drawings more in detail,

and particularly to Figs. l to 4, inclusive,

thereof, reference character 8 indicates the casing of a gate valveequipped with a valve seat 9. Upon the bonnet 11 of the valve casing ismounted a .standard or yoke 12,

through which the valve stem 13, carrying at its lower end the valve 14,extends. The

-upper portion of the valve stem is threaded and engaged by a' rotatablesleevey nut 15, provided at one side with a radially projectinglug 16.The hub 17 of a gear 18 rotatgear 18 meshes with and is driven by apin-` lion- 24, Jmounted upon the upper end of a `shaft 25, whichcarries a gear 26 at its lower end, in turn meshing with and driven by apinion 27, fixed upon the shaft of a motor 28, which is mounted upon thestandard 12.

Assuming that the parts are in the position shown in Figs. v1 and 4,with the valve closed against its seat, if the motor is now started, theIgear 18 and-,its hub 17 will be rotated in a. `,counter-clockwisedirection, viewing Fig. 4. Since during practically a [completerevolution of the hub 17 'substantially no resistance `is offered to itsmovement, the motor during this period will be permitted to speed up andattain considerable momentum, which, when the lug 19 finally engages thelug 16, is applied 'as av hammer` blow against the nut 154 to break fvalve away from its seat were produced by a steady torque exertedthrough a continuous connection which did notinclude the lost motionconnection provided between the sleeve 15 and the hub 17.

Upon the standard 12 there is also mounted a limit switch housing 29,within which is disposed ay limitswitch comprising a threaded rod 31,engaged by a nut 32 which travels longitudinally of the rod when the rod'is rotated. The upper end of the rod projects above the housing 29, andhas mounted thereon a gear wheel 33, which meshes with and is driven byagear 34 secured by -a key 35 to the sleeve nut 15. Rotary movements ofthis sleeve nut lare therefore transmitted to the threaded rod 31 tocause movement of the lnut 32 longitudinally of the rod. A stationaryguide rod 36 extends through the nut 32 to prevent rotation of the nut.

The nut32 carries a pair of adjustable abutment screws 37 and 38,projecting downwardly and upwardly, respectively, from the nut. Near thelower end of and within the housing 29 there is mounteda contactswitch', designated generally by reference character A. The switchcomprises a stationary Contact piece 39 and a movable contact member 41,carried upon a bell crank lever fulcrumed at' 42 upon an insulated'block 43. 'An abutment 44, mounted u on one arm ofthe bell crankmember, is' isposed in the path of travel of the abutment screw 37, andthis abutment is Connected. by

a wire 45` with a binding post 46 connected to thecircuit wire 47, aswill be-l later eX- 'plained The contact member 39 is con` nectedwiththe circuit wire 48.

YVithin the `upper portionof the housing 29 there is mounteda similarcontact switch B, the structural details of which are generally similartothe switch A, just described,

It will be apparent, therefore, that upon l closing movement of thevalve 14, 'the limit switch nut 32 will travel downwardly upon the rod31, until,y through the abutment screw 37, the Contact switch A isopened; and that upon opening movement of the valve, the nut 32 willtravel upwardly upon 'the rod 31 until, through the abutment screw 38,the contact switch B is opened.-

The control of the motor, by which the method of closinglthe'valve,preLviously cX- plained, is carried out, will be best understood byreference to the diagrammatic dis-V closure of Fig. 5. Referring to thisfigure,

, illustrated diagrainmatically only, and that standard or otherpreferred apparatus may be employed in the circuit to accomplish thedesired results. It should further be understood that the circuit isillustrative merely, `the one shown in Fig.V 5v being adapted for a D.C. reversible motor; whereas, if an A. C. motor be employed, a differenthook-up would be required, althougli the principles of operation and theresults secured would be the same as are obtained with the D. C. hook-upshown herein merely as illustrating the principles of my. invention.

Assuming that the valve is in fully opened position, that the switch 53is open, and that the circuit is dead, the first operation in closingthe valve is to close the switch 53, which is ydone manually. Currentwill now4 fiow through the wires 54 and 55 through the solenoid 56, thecontact switch C, and the wire 57, establishing a circuit whichenergizes the solenoid 56 to close the normally open contact switches Dand E. At the same time a circuit is closed through wires 54, 55,58,-the solenoid 59, wire 6l, solenoid 62, wire-47,!switch A, wire48,and wire 63 to energize solenoid 59, thereby closing contact switch F,and opening contact switch G, and atl the same time energizing solenoid62, to open the normally closed (ontact switch H. As soon as contactswitches D, E are closed, current will be fed directly to the motor 28through the `circuit, including the Wires 64, 65, the switch F, andwire66, as illustrated in the upper y diagrami niark Close in Fig. -7.The motor will vtherefore operate at full speed and torque .to move thevalve toward closed position. The'nut 32 of the limit switch .willsimultaneouslytravel downwardly upon the revolving threaded rod 31, andwhen the valve has reached a predetermined position in proximity toitsseat, determined by the adjustment ofthe abutmentscrew 37, this screwwill engageV the abutment 44 of the switch A, thereby swinging themovable member of the switch on its fulcrum 42 to open the switch andbreak the circuit in which it is included.

VThe breaking of this circuit' de-energizes the solenoid 59, 'therebypermitting -the switch memberl controlled thereby toY resume the normalposition shown in Fig. 5, opening the circuit through the switch' F andclosing the circuit through the switch G. -This action imposesresistance 67 in series with the motor, and resistance 68 in parallelwith the motor through the switch G, as shown in Fig. 5, and asillustrated diagrammatically in the second position shown in Fig. 7, andindicated Limit The iinposition ofV these series and parallelresistances in the motor circuit reduces both the speed and torque ofthe motor, which contlnues to operate, however, to force the valveagainst its seat. Since the final closing movementofthe valve iseffected under reduced speed -and torque of the motor, the valve willnot be jammed so violently `.against its seat as to -cause injury to theoperating mechanism. When the valve'becomesfully seated so that furthermovement thereof is precluded, the motor will stall, but because currentis being supplied thereto only in ymaterially reduced quantities thereis no liability of the motor coils becoming the motor becomes stalle Thebreaking of the circuit in whichthe switch A is included alsocle-energizes the solenoid 62, which thereupon releases the movablemember of the switch H, kpermitburned` out or even unduly overheatedwhen 'ting this switch to resume its normal closed position, as shown inFig. 5. The closing vof this switch sets in operation a time rela 69,included in the circuit with the swi'tc H, which relay, after apredetermined period of time for which yit is designed has elapsed, willactuate the movable member of the switch C to open this switch. Sincethe time 'relay 69 is a commercial article, of which any one of severaltypes may be'employed, the details thereof are not illustrated herein,it being sufficient for an understanding of the present invention tocomprehend that a delayed action is yinvolved so that when a circuit isestablished through the relay, some little time, in the present instancea few seconds, elapses before the switch C is opened by the relay. Inthe 4present instance the relay is so designed that the switch ,C willnot be opened until after the valve has been fully closed and theoperating motor has become stalled. The opening of the switch Cde-energizes the solenoid 56, thereby permitting the movable membersofthe switches Dand la) to resume their normal open position, so as toshut off the'current to the motor. The switch 53 may then either bemanually opened, or preferably is automatically opened by the opening ofthe switches D and E. if

' The position of the various contact switches during the cycle' isillustrated dia-- grammatically in Fig. 6, from which it will beobserved that when the closing movement of the valve is started bythrowinor in the main line switch 53, contacts A, C), D, E, and F areeither already or become immediately closed in the-manner previouslydescribed, while contact B remains open under the infiuence oftheabutment screw 38, and contacts G and H become immediately openedthrough energizing of the solenoids 59and 62, as previously described.pon

closing movement of the valve, contact B closes as soon as screw 38 iswithdrawn therefrom. When the valve reaches a point in proximity to itsseat, at which point screw 37 opens switch A, thereby de-energizingsolenoids 59v and 62, switch F opens, and

switches G and- Hy close. lVhen the time relay 69 operates, all of theswitchas, with the exception of B, G, and H, which 'are normally closed,open and the circuit remains dead until the main switch 53 is againclosed.

I have shown herein thc closing circuit only,.but it should beunderstood that the v wire 71, connected with th'e'stationaryinemldescribed, and the time relay is set in operation to Vshut oil' thecurrent after the valve has opened and the motor is stalled. It shouldbe remembered also that when the apparatus is started for the purpose ofopening the valve, the motor'speeds up and attains considerable momentumbefore stud 19 engagesstud 16 to unseat the valve with a hammerblow,'and obviously, when the motor is reversed t0 close the valve, asimilar hammer blow in a reverse direction is im parted to startthevalve on its downward travel.

It is believed that-my improved method, and a preferred means forcarrying the same into effect, will be understoodiand its ad` vantagesappreciated' from the foregoingwithout vfurther description, and itshould be manifest that the structuralA details illustrated anddescribed may be varied within wide limits without exceeding the scopeof the invention, as defined inthe following claims.

I claim: l 1. The method of operating a valve which comprises movingthe-valve under full power into :proximity to its seat, closing thevalve' against its seat under reduced power,

and thereafterv automatically relieving the.

`closed valve fromthe closing power. v

2 The method of operating a valvewhicliv consists inI al plyingmaximumclosing power tothe va ves-,until a pointin proximity tothe valve seatisreached. by the valve, reducin .fthe closing: power during the remainer of the closing movement, and terminatjiiVethe application of power tothe valve a r'thesame 'has been completely automatically causing thecessation of said effort.

l 4. The method of operating a valve which consists in imposing apreviously acquired momentum on the valve to start the same inl motion,continuing the motion of ,the valveunder a predetermined motive effortto a predetermined point in its travel, applying a reduced motive eiortto eiect the final closing movement of the valve, and automaticallycausing the cessation of said motive eifort. after the motion of thevalve has ceased.

5. The combination with a valve, of means including a motor and a'control therefor, for moving said valve under full power toward itsseat to a predetermined point, then completing the closing lmovement ofthe valve under reducedV power, 'and finally automatically shutting offthe power after the valve is seated.

6. The combination with a valve, of a motor connected thereto to operatethe same, mea-ns for reducing the effective torque of said motor whenthe valve reaches-apre# determined point in its travel, and means.

olf the appllcai'or automaticallyshutti tion of. power to theE mo or atthe expira tion of a predetermined time after said predeterminedpointhas been reached by said valve.

7. The combination with a valve, of am" motor. driving means including alost motionconnection between said motor and said valve and a controlfor said motor including a limit switch for imposing' resistance -in themotor circuit and a time relay for 'shutting oi the motor a predetermmedtime after said limit switch operates.

8."Tl1`e combination with a -.valve, of a motor, an operative connectionbetween said motor` and saidvalve. and a controlforssaid valve includingmeans for introducmg parallel and series resistance into the motorcircuit at a predetermined. point in Athe travel of the valve and a timerelay rendered operable by said last mentioned means for shutting otlthe current to said motor afvter the valve has become' fullyv seated.and

vthe motor is stalled.

9. The combination with a valvet' of an operating motor'therefor, andcontrol means for said motor for reducing the speed and torque of themotor as-the valve approaches its seat and for shutting oi the power tothe :(riotor afterthe valve has been fully seate Y CLINTON n eEcKwITH.'

